ECONOMIC CRIME AS A THREAT TO STATE SECURITY: THE ESSENCE AND MEANS OF COUNTERACTION

Abstract

Economic crime is considered as a threat to state security, covering a set of different types of deliberate encroachments on economic relations protected by the state, regardless of ownership and activities of entities that perform certain functions in the field of production, exchange, service, and persons related to the regulation of this activity. The spread of crisis in the economy of many countries in connection with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the aggravation of political and economic relations with Russia, the annexation of Crimea and the self-proclamation of new entities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions have led to rising economic crime and shadow economy in Ukraine. The consequences of economic crime for state security are so significant that they can be defined as determinants of the effectiveness of the economic system of the state and the possibility of its existence in the future. Economic crime is a kind of catalyst for the formation of the state and institutions of public administration. Accordingly, the methods of combating economic crime should be transformed, the legal mechanisms of public administration should be developed, the activities of state institutions, which are entrusted with the functions of detecting economic crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice, should be changed. In today’s globalized world, one of the effective means of combating economic crime is financial investigations, which include a set of measures to combat embezzlement, cybercrime, corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist financing and more. The most common economic crimes in Ukraine and the world, which pose the greatest threat to state security, are outlined. A model of state-administrative aspects of preventing and combating economic crime as a threat to state security has been developed.